Daily Archives: November 9, 2014

Carnegie Hall Experience

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This was my second time going to an orchestra, the first time I went was back in Korea. This was when I was very little, and I ended up leaving the orchestra with my brother early to play outside. It was way too boring for me to just sit there and listen. However, this time, it was different. I listened and watched all the movements on the stage. The movement of the conductor, the movement through the music, and the movement of the singers were all interesting. The music went from soft to hard and the transition was very smooth as well.

Carnegie Hall definitely looks amazing from the outside as well as in the inside. I passed by Carnegie Hall several time and always wondered what the inside would look like, and it did not disappoint me. Although the seats were uncomfortable, it was a great experience and would love to visit again.

St. Luke’s Orchestra At Carnegie Hall

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The performance we saw on Thursday was incredibly memorable and engaging.

First off: Carnegie Hall. Amazing! The building was beautiful, the interior was beautiful and the hall gave off an intense vibe of culture. It was simply a joy to be there and moreso to see a performance there. As soon as I saw the hall, I could not help but snap a picture.

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Onto the performance: all of the pieces were fairly great. They were all perfectly complemented by the mesmerizing conducting of Pablo Heras-Casado, who gave a whole other level of energy to the performance. That was the moment I realized how truly integral a good conductor is to a good performance. One piece in particular etched itself into my mind: Mendelssohn’s “Die erste Walpurgisnacht” (The First Walpurgis Night). The narrative involved with this piece made me look forward to it even before the show had started. When the orchestra played it and the singers sang with their powerful voices, I was absolutely mesmerized. The innate story of the piece also appealed to me deeply: an oppressed group winning out against the majority. The ending of the piece was also, by far, my favorite part of the entire night.

Afterwards, an evening spent at the diner with the rest of the class made for an extremely memorable night.

An Animated Passion

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For me, listening to the wonderfully spectacular classical music was only 90% of the performance. The other 10% came from actually looking at the musicians play their instruments. While looking at the orchestra as a whole, one cannot help but notice how animated it is. You have the violin player gracefully moving her bow to and fro. You have the cello player tapping his feet to keep the rhythm. You have the percussionist, every now and then, getting out of his chair, reaching for his cymbals and preparing for his grand moment. Each and every musician in the orchestra was animated in some manner. I wondered to myself why this was. I questioned it in my mind. Surely, they have played these pieces numerous times. I doubt that it has the same awe-inspiring effect as it does to the audience.

Then it hit me! It all came down to one word: Passion. To these musicians, playing Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest or Purcell’s Suite from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is something much more than a simple gig at Carnegie Hall.  To them, it is a part of their passion. Playing a crisp, clean note, rising and falling perfectly to crescendos and decrescendos, and ignoring the disturbance of syncopation is part of who they are. Playing the piece of music perfectly is their goal for that night. Perfection, in fact, is their goal in life. Their passion takes control of them, both mentally and physically. A musician, truly engulfed by his or her passion, cannot help but physically feel the music. One notices the swaying to the pace of the music, and the sharp leans and head turns as the music makes sudden changes. You can only imagine that the musicians are seconds away from jumping out of their chairs with excitement! Even the conductor himself, who is in charge of guiding these talented musicians, is under the influence of his own passion. You cannot help but notice him bump and two-step to the music, or should I say his and the orchestra’s music.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral- Christopher Chong, Justin Roach, Lucius Seo

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St. Patrick's Cathedral 1

 

“There exists in this era, for thoughts written in stone, a privilege absolutely comparable to our current freedom of the press. It is the freedom of architecture.”

-Victor Hugo, Notre Dame de Paris

Some people say that the cathedral is built large so that we can feel the great distance between God and us. Some people say that the cathedral is built so beautifully to show the political power of the Catholic church. Some people say many things in front of the cathedral, watching the edifice in fear, like the way the Romans would mutter their quibbles at profanum, lurking around the boundary between what they hope to be sacred and what they hope to be vulgar.

Cathedral tells a story. It is not built magnificent to drive away people who, as Socrates would put it, speak as they do in the marketplace. Back in the time when not everyone had the privilege to learn, cathedral was a great building which told stories to the illiterates. It is an experiment ground on which many things can happen; the very first of all civil rights movements and one of the greatest petitions for freedom.

The beauty of all cathedrals that broke the boundary between the vulgar and sacred, common and noble, rich and poor, is also seen in the story of St. Patrick. Although he was once captured and enslaved in Ireland, he chose to come back to the so-called barbarians. He did not force the people into belief through violence; he took the shamrock, which was a sacred plant to the people who lived there, and explained the concept of Trinity.

St. Patrick's Cathedral 2St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in that sense, is exemplary. It was a shelter for the Catholics in New York. Its foundation is the same as that of America: freedom, equality, coexistence, harmony, and all traits thought to be admirable and American. The true art of St. Patrick’s Cathedral is not from the aesthetics, but from the value and motive, which still lives today.

Taking a look at the Cathedral’s architecture, the building has a neo-Gothic style structure. The Cathedral started it’s construction in 1858, but didn’t finish building until 1878, which was in part due to the Civil War. Today, the church is open to public visits daily, except when mass is being held. It is located on 5th avenue, between 50th and 51st street at the heart of Midtown Manhattan.

We really believe that a visit to St. Patrick’s is worth anyone’s time. Currently it is under a massive 5-year renovation project, but it is still open. If you ever take a stroll through midtown and have the time, do go visit.

 

~Christopher Chong, Justin Roach, Lucius Seo

St. Luke the Magnificent, Plus Crazy Guy

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Ahhh, where shall I start?

I was anticipating that this night would be a great night. It definitely was. Like Pun, this is my first time stepping into the Carnegie Hall. I couldn’t stop looking around at the architecture of the place. The architecture was simple, everything was very smooth and rounded, and surprisingly I didn’t see a fancy chandelier hanging down from the middle of the hall. This all adds up and concurs with the fact that Carnegie Hall has one of best acoustics of any halls. It was probably one of the nicest halls I’ve seen as well. Even with seats up in the balcony everything sounded very crystal clear 🙂

On to the pieces: I think all the performances were executed very well, though I personally preferred the first half of the performance prior to the intermission.

Henry Purcell’s Suite from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Appetizer! What a great way to start! The pieces were very hip and flow very nicely for me. It reminds me of the Bach Invention pieces. In those pieces, the right hand would usually play a part, and the left hand would play the same part after the right hand stopped while the right hand accompanied, and so on. It has a back and forth feel, and thats how I felt when I heard the Purcell piece. I especially like these two, i-I and ii-VII. Here is the full suite for the orchestra:

And here is ii-VII:

Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest, Op. 18: This piece was probably the main course! Tchaikovsky was extremely talented in creating this piece, and it was executed very well by our conductor Pablo Heras-Casado! I especially enjoyed the sudden soft and loudness of the piece, which makes me feel very calm one minute, while alert the next! I was especially attention to the violinist, who’s bow was flickering at the speed of light at one point in the piece. This piece reminded me another piece that I enjoy hearing as well, Robert W. Smith’s The Divine Comedy: I. Inferno. This piece is based on Dante’s Inferno, and creates a auditory stimuli through how Dante perceived hell was like. Here is a performance of the piece (this is played by a band, not an orchestra):

 

 

Luigi Dallapiccola’s Piccola Musica Notturna: I don’t really have much to say. The piece was executed fine, but I didn’t feel that this piece was as rich as the others, especially the first 2.

Felix Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurgisnacht, Op. 60: I don’t know how I feel about this piece. The sing along part was definitely a plus, plus the ending was probably the best part about this piece. I guess this piece was the long and fulfilling dessert the finished the course of dinner!

Ahh, how can we forget, crazy man in front of the hall.

Just when we thought the night was over, a random man, presumably drunk, approached us and started talking to me. No fear, the guy just was trying to make new friends, gave me a fist pound, and talk about the cops of Connecticut, some cause and affect, and murmured some other stuff. Thanks for the reassurance guys LOL

And then, diner after diner, time for some diner food! 😀

 

~Christopher Chong

“The Tempest”

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I share the awe that many of my classmates experienced after listening to Tchaikovsky’s “The Tempest.” This was certainly my favorite performance from the four that we saw at Carnegie Hall because it was very engaging since the piece seemed to tell a story, yet at the same time this performance was calm and pleasant. I was utterly surprised at how well the piece portrayed a serene and yet, an eerie atmosphere at the sea. It seemed as if we were in fact hearing the sea rather than an orchestra. Further, the piece perfectly flowed through an occurrenMiranda_-_The_Tempest_JWWce of events in Shakespeare’s play.

Tchaikovsky is a VIRTUOSO in his contributions to classical music. However, our conductor Pablo Heras-Casado also deserves many compliments because he was spectacular in the manner which he led the orchestra in playing Tchaikovsky’s work. The music and the instruments lived along side with him. He lived with every note played through his body motioning, it seemed as if channeled the music through his body.

P.S. By the way, this is what was happening in the piece:

“Starting with the sea, the uninhabited island, the mighty and forbidding figure of the magician Prospero, then switching to the graceful and womanly Miranda, rather like the primordial Eve, she has never laid eyes on any breed of man (besides Prospero), until struck by the tempest she is flung ashore with the handsome youth Ferdinand; they fall in love with each other, and I think at this point in the first half of the overture there should be a wonderful and poetic motif, as Miranda gradually becomes more animated and leaves behind her childhood innocence to become a young woman in love. In the second half of the overture her and Ferdinand’s passion should already be in full sail, as they embrace the fires of love… the middle section of the overture would be grouped into three main sections: the half-beast Caliban, the enchanted spirit Ariel, and his chorus of elves. The overture ought to end by depicting Prospero’s renunciation of his magic powers, the blessing of the young couple’s union, and the return to the mainland.”

-Angelika

 

Carnegie Hall Experience

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I never really listen to classical music or orchestral performances on my own, but this was a very enjoyable experience. This was certainly my favorite performance that we have seen for this class. The music was so relaxing that I could just sit back and let it happen. At other performances, I have always tried to analyze what is going on and what it could all mean, but with this performance I just sat back and enjoyed it. I think part of the reason why is that I knew I would not be able to really critique the music, but also because its was just a very relaxing performance. My favorite piece from the night was Tchaikovsky’s piece from The Tempest, as it was very engaging. The atmosphere at Carnegie Hall was also fantastic, as the building was amazing and despite having balcony seats, the stage was clear and the music was easy to hear. This is definitely a performance I would want to repeat.

Continuing in this “tragedy or comedy” (or “absurdities”?) track

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Perhaps both at the same time, as intended by Pirandello: tragedy  (the story of the messy family drama Six Characters are trying to relate) and comedy (the story of a rehearsal unexpectedly interrupted by those 6Ch.).

The play (not the play-within-the play, but the Six Characters in Search of an Author strikes me as extraordinarily clear-headed & logical, in fact even cool in its detached observations of us, humans – in life not very apt at logic and often not aware of our weaknesses & emotional tangles.

And perhaps our confusions here (yes, in plural – as evidenced by your numerous, great posts: rich in observations, right in the impulse to question!), vis-a-vis this play, are not due to the complexity of the play itself, but exactly to our human uncertainties and paradoxes.

The Irish Hunger Memorial – Joshua Chu, Tony Chu & Chris Pun

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Irish Hunger Memorial - Rear View

The Irish Hunger Memorial was created by architect Brian Tolle and landscape designer Gail Wittwer-Laird. They envisioned the hilly landscape of rural Ireland and transferred it to the flat NYC Financial District through the ingenious use of stone pillars and concrete overhangs.

Its main purpose is to remind viewers of the experiences of many Irish farmers in the Great Famine of Ireland, and that purpose is evident in the design of the structure. The viewer sees what the impoverished farmer sees.

The elevated concrete platform holds the cottage, grassy hill, path and stones present in that era. The pillars that hold up the platform are striped with backlit words that tell the tales of all the survivors of the Famine. The structure provides a view of the Statue of Liberty beyond the treetops–a symbol of an Irish potato farmer’s sight on freedom.

The words that wrap around the pillars tell powerful stories of the suffering that the Irish went through so they cannot forget: The viewer reads about the horrific events of the Famine and feels what the impoverished farmer feels.

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Mr. William Gregory, MP rose to propose the following Clause: And be it further Enacted, That no person who shall be in the occupation, whether under lease or agreement, or as Tenant-at-will, or from year to year, or in any other matter whatsoever, of any land of greater extent than the quarter of a statute acre, shall be deemed and taken to be a destitute poor person under the provision of this Act, or of any former Act of Parliament; nor shall it be lawful for any board of guardians to grant any relief whatever in or out of the workhouse, to any such occupier, his wife, or children.
The Poor Relief Bill: The Gregory Clause. House of Commons. 29 March 1847

When paraphrased, this Act of Parliament says, ‘No one who has more than 0.25 acres of land can be considered a poor person and no one is permitted to help this person in any way whatsoever.’ That is both disgusting and memorable.

This memorial impales the viewer’s senses with sights and words that make him see if he hasn’t yet seen and makes him remember while he hasn’t completely forgotten the horrors of the Great Famine. It is art just as poems and memorials about 9/11 are art, maybe even more so because of the magnitude of the tragedy it describes.

Pirandello’s play

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Here is the text of the play of  Six Characters in Search of an Author, by Luigi Pirandello, trans. from the Italian by Edward Storer

http://www.planetmonk.com/dramageeks/scripts/sixcharacters.pdf

And a review by Robert Hurwitt in the San Francisco Chronicle (Nov. 8, 2014), with two good photos, of the performance we saw (by the troupe Théâtre de la Ville, dir. by Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota), but performed already in California:

http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Theater-review-Pirandello-from-Paris-to-Cal-5880375.php

Pirandello’s Six Characters…

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Late thoughts on Six Characters in Search of an Author

First things first, thank you so very much Professor Drabik for the press tickets! They were absolutely amazing and the play was confoundingly great. My apologies for not bringing up my thoughts about the play during class, but here they are.

The play was pretty brilliantly produced. The way they used the lighting, the shadows, and the stage in order to alter the way we saw certain things and make us view things the way they wanted us to. It was all just so brilliantly planned and acted out. There were a couple of things that I was wondering about after the play:
1) Who exactly was the woman sewing at the beginning, and what was her purpose in the play? Could she be the author (although unlikely, just kind of a random thought)? – I only recall seeing her at the beginning, at the end, and when she brought out the bird with the cage.
2) Why was the name of the little girl (Rosetta) mentioned once and only once, while every other time she was just referred to as the child?
3) The director said at one point that the characters themselves were the authors or something along those lines. Could the six characters be the authors themselves?

During class many people were debating the idea of whether it was fiction or reality. In my opinion, there was no doubt it was fiction. During the scene where they were behind the curtain and both the actors and the characters were yelling “Reality!, Fiction!”, but afterwards only the actors appeared up front, dazed and confused. I think that this meant the actors were so “into their roles” during rehearsal, for lack of a better term, that they essentially brought to life these six characters and their story. Of course the experience is real, but that still doesn’t make the fiction a reality. The six characters and their story are still just words on a page.